Crème Fraiche: a tasty topping that makes things feel fancy

Fancy Pants pairing - Ooo la la!

Any topping that you have to say with an accent is a good idea.  And Crème Fraiche is a perfect example.  It is rich and creamy and whipped and thick, all at the same time.  Food bloggers tout crème fraiche as an overall winner for toppings: throw a dollop on strawberries or pie as a dessert; mix in a bit as a rich topping for a soup; use as a dip with crudites.

I recently realized, as I read through recipes, that I had never tasted it.  It created some curiosity so when I came across it in the grocery store on special, I snagged some and decided to experiment.  For a recent dinner party, I made a topping for shrimp.  I wanted the Crème's creaminess to be balanced with a little salt and spice, and I wanted to a bit of color.  So, I added dill and thick flakes of black salt and voila! (OK, now I'm just trying to use more French words.)  It was a nice topper for the shrimp and dinner guests lapped it up.  Good maiden voyage!

Want to get super Fancy Pants about it and make your own?  It is possible, and relatively easy.  Add a bit of cultured buttermilk or sour cream to heavy cream. Let the mixture stand for a few hours at room temperature.  The mixture will toughen in consistency to get its thick creaminess once the bacterial cultures act on the cream.  Don't let this freak you out: the cultures happen in the same way that Greek yogurt forms (such as Fage) and the cultures are beneficial to intestinal health.  Another 'hidden' advantage to crème fraiche is that despite the high fat content (people are hard on it's creamy flavor because of this) , but it is very low in sugar as a result.  I guess the lesson is: pick your battles!

Regardless of how you decide to use the Crème Fraiche, it is a diverse delight. It's so good that I'm tempted to start saying crème cheese and crème of mushroom soup, and things like that.

Next time, I'll mix it with some honey and sea salt for fruit or maybe garlic and rosemary for a soup.

Building community through eating together

Happy Thanksgiving!

The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world. 

Daily, our eating turns nature into culture, 

transforming the body of the world into our bodies and minds.

-from Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma

A new twist on the Caprese

Now that's a salad.

Caprese salads are generally a side dish that proves to be a crowd pleaser at gatherings. Who can resist a great olive oil sprinkled atop fresh tomatoes and soft, thick mozerella cheese and basil?  It works in the summer or the winter, especially if you jazz it up with seasonal touches.

The above was a seasonal take. I used a mix of brown tomatoes and cherry tomatoes instead of sliced Beefsteak tomatoes, which is the traditional version in the salad. I like it this way so dinner guests can just as easily take the individual tomatoes as it is to take a slice of the Beefsteak.

Of course, I put olive oil and balsamic on top - a traditional touch that can't be missed!  The olive oil gives the smooth taste while the balsamic adds a punch of flavor that balances out well with the cheese.

And obviously, the diamond of the dish - add basil.  But! Don't be afraid to take chances with some spices: this recipe, I added the smaller flakes of dried basil, but also fresh rosemary for a bit of a different take on the traditional taste.  Dill, thyme, and garlic would also be awesomely zesty.

Feel liberal with the cheese as well.  Above, I used the mozzarella that is most easily sliced - a log of full fat mozzarella. You could also use mozzarella balls which, like the cherry tomatoes, are easy to serve more individually and offer a cool effect on how the dish is presented with different shapes and sizes in what's served.  Burrata mozzarella is a wonderful variety that is a bit more pricey but worth it for the texture and flavor. The outer "shell" is mozzarella but the inside is cheese and cream. It is rich and luscious. I've also made a "Caprese" with chunky feta.

Baked Sweet Potatoes with honey, sea salt, and sage

Sa-weet.

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite dishes because there is so much crammed in to one little tuber. It's packed with vitamins, a gorgeous color, and a wonderful hearty flavor that can be prepared in so many ways.  The saucy sweet potato is versatile: it can be mashed, sliced and baked (as above), or easily cooked in the microwave.  It's even showing up in baking flours these days.  Sweet potato pancakes? Yes, please. And, to make matters easier in preparation, sweet potatoes are fabulous with the skin on (to me, this is one of its best offerings to the taste buds), and the skin is where a lot of the vitamins work their magic.

The above dish is 8 medium sweet potatoes. While you're waiting for the oven to heat up (425 degrees), wash the potatoes thoroughly and wipe off with a dish towel to remove excess dirt (this WILL affect the flavor, trust me.)  Slice the SPs into halves or thick slivers, as above.  Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray, then place the SPs on the tray, orange sides up.

Throw whatever spices and oils you want on top.  This recipe is sprinkled with olive oil, cinnamon, citrus, sea salt, and honey on top for it to bake into the SPs.  The citrus salt on top gave it a tangy flavor that went well with the sage.

Cook for about 25 minutes - check at 20, you may cook them for up to 30 minutes.  When you take them out, top them with sage leaves - or, any other spice or herb you'd prefer.  The SPs are best when served hot, but they do make great leftovers or can even be mashed later or enjoyed with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

Like Butta.

Paula Dean, eat your heart out.

A few months ago, I saw a Bon Appetit piece about DIY flavored butter.  Oh yeah.  Every flavor they featured looked delicious - they each had great color, the flavors sounded amazing. So when it was time to serve up some bread at a recent dinner party, I thought I'd get creative.

My goal became orange bourbon butter - and I was delighted to find that the process was not too hard. You want the stick(s) of butter to be soft to mix in whatever you choose to flavor it with. I think salted butter is nice to add a boost of flavor in addition to whatever you add. You can leave the butter out at room temperature for a while to soften it, or put it in the microwave. It is soooo easy to overheat it, so be aware that you really only need to soften it for 5-10 seconds.

On a cutting board, lay down a piece of wax paper and get your mix-ins ready.  I finely chopped a fresh orange and added about an ounce of Buillet Bourbon to the butter and mixed it together with a spoon. Then I rolled up the butter in the paper like a Tootsie Roll and put it in the fridge to harden back into a more firm form.  You should do this early before parties so that the butter can return to a spreadable form.  This could even be an hour early, but you can do it days before if you choose because the butter will save if sealed well.

I got lucky and got the results I wanted that satisfied the dinner crowd.  Salty, sweet, and of course, like butta.  If anything, guests commented, there should be more Bourbon.

Isn't that basically always true?

Asparagus with Shallots and Garlic

Shallots & Garlic make all the difference.

An easy, go-to side dish is asparagus. Asparagus is surprisingly versatile: it comes in different sizes (lengths and thickness) and colors (white and green) - and it can be grilled, sauteed, baked, or creamed for soups.  Its leftovers do well re-heated, or, chopped into smaller pieces as salad toppings or to mix into stews, add to a casserole, etc.

Two magical flavor-packed morsels make asparagus a knock-out side dish, not just a good one: shallots and garlic.  And it should be said that shallots and garlic are like peanut butter and jelly - they are 100% reliably tasty, and they always make everything better.  Shallots and garlic pack punches of flavor that are always available, easy to handle in the kitchen, and cheap at the grocery store.

A couple rules of the road about preparing garlic: the more you cut into the garlic, the more oils are released, which gives you great flavor.  Make sure to cut the garlic length-wise first, and try to get as thin with the slices as possible. (Obviously this requires a quality knife that you're comfortable handling.)
Check out this great video on the how-tos.

The above asparagus dish also included olive oil, a dash of balsamic, one spoonful of Dijon mustard, malt vinegar sea salt, and a little pepper.  Let asparagus simmer, turning throughout, for a total of 10-12 minutes, depending on the tenderness you want. Serve hot or cold!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Cream cheese frosting?...whopieeeee!

My dear friend and neighbor, Kira, is a fantastic baker.  I am not.  So I seek her out for wisdom on all things baked and fluffy. She is the kind of deliciously creative friend who makes dinner party guests wowed (and jealous) by making the cream pie from the cover of Bon Appetit...and it looks JUST like the picture. Last weekend, she graced my dinner party guests with seasonal Pumpkin Whoopie Pies that were OUT OF THIS WORLD.  
Here is her recipe and notes, adapted from the cookbook Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Their bakery in Red Hook opened in Jan 05. This is their first book.

Pumpkin Whoopie Cookies:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 " baking powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 " ginger
1 " cloves (didn't have this, and don't like it, so i doubled the ginger instead)
2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup veg oil
3 cups chilled pumpkin puree (i used about 2 x the canned stuff) 
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
*Note: chilling the pumpkin makes the pies easier to scoop. 

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment.
Whisk the first seven ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 
In a separate bowl, whisk the brown sugar and oil. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. 
Sprinkle the flour mixture and whisk until combined. (This implies that you do not have to use a mixer, and the dough is not very tough, but I used my Kitchenaid with the whisk attachment.)

Use a small spoon to drop the dough onto the baking sheets one inch apart. Bake for 10-12 or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. 

Cream Cheese Filling:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (although mine was straight from the refrigerator. I think this helped with the consistency)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift confectioners sugar (I skipped this, but can see why it is useful, there were a few clumps of sugar in the final result)
In a bowl with electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (I used my handheld mixer for convenience) beat the butter until it is smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Do not over beat or it will loose structure. - Can be made one day ahead. 

Assemble the whoopie pies. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. I made the cookie part in the evening and then the filling in the morning and assembled them. The cookie part gets a little sticky, so if you are storing them (for up to 3 days) line the container with parchment and put parchment on top, with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator.